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Periodontist Marketing 101 – Is Your Practice Poised For Growth?

The AAP annual meeting in Vancouver was amazing. The weather ummm….not so much, but the conference, speakers and attendees were fantastic. As usual, 98% of the courses offered were clinically based. The remaining 2% had to do with practice management and periodontist marketing strategies. Those handful of courses were completely SOLD OUT. Hopefully the AAP will realize what type of information our colleagues really want.

I was lucky enough to host a four hour workshop along with Dr. Peter Fritz, “The Periodontist in Turbulent Times“, and found out quite a few interesting things that have been happening within other perio practices….

Get Your House In Order

So many specialists who are trying to solve problems within their practice act like failing seafood restaurant owners who say, “I think if we just added a tomahawk steak to the menu, then business should pick up.”

Their restaurant is tanking and they assume a menu change will make a difference. These specialists are spending time and money to learn and offer different treatment that their patients don’t need and aren’t asking for.

The practice is tanking and they really think the answer is to leave their family every weekend to go and learn about a new surgical procedure? Get your house in order!

I spoke with several periodontists at the meeting and most “thought” they had their house in order, but it wasn’t. It seems that all they could talk about was:

a new grafting material they were going to buy to treat failing implants

new software to assist placing implants

practice management software to help with the “flow” of the practice

a new procedure to lift the sinus

I’m not saying that all of this is NOT important. But unless we have our house in order, none of this really matters.

Broken Human Resources

Most broken houses are related to HR.

Try this scenario: Dr. Perio walks in to check a hygiene patient. He notices that recession has gotten worse on the facial of #30 and recommends soft tissue grafting. So for the next 10 minutes he goes on to explain the procedure along with showing the patient before and after pictures. After exiting the room, the patient turns to the hygienist and asks, “Do you really think I need a graft?”

If the hygienist rolls her eyes and says, “I don’t know, I guess?” then the case acceptance rate in that practice is paltry.

What’s the point in furthering our education with new techniques or buying the latest technology if our team isn’t properly trained to handle the basics?

Periodontist Marketing

I was surprised at some of the questions I received after the workshop at the AAP. Some of the questions dealt with periodontist marketing strategies but most dealt with…you got it..HR.

It appeared that there was a higher percentage of docs that needed help with internal affairs as much as or more than growing the practice. They smartly realize that unless their house is in the order, nothing else really matters.

Fixing The Leaks

They are the life line to the practice and without the proper staff training, you’re missing out on 1-3 patients per DAY on average.

Several of the AAP attendees signed up for my private platinum coaching. A large portion of that involves first evaluating the practice to see if it needs to be put in order BEFORE any type of new marketing is started.

What’s the point in spending $$$ if it’s going to be wasted by team members that haven’t received the proper training?

Is your house in order?

Is your house in order? If not, consider an evaluation.

Email: jeff@theauthoritypractice.com for more details.

One Comment on “Periodontist Marketing 101 – Is Your Practice Poised For Growth?”

Hi Jeff, thanks for your great post. Sorry I missed your presentation in Vancouver. My practice really is struggling with the business end and marketing. I am sure you have a great handle on what’s going on.